S.D. Codified Laws § 55-1-38

This is the official text of S.D. Codified Laws § 55-1-38, part of South Dakota’s Codified Laws — part of the compiled statutory law of South Dakota, published by the state as "Codified Laws." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Classification of distribution interest

Official statutory text

A distribution interest can be classified in three ways:

(1) As a mandatory interest, which is a distribution interest, in which the timing of any distribution must occur within one year from the date the right to the distribution arises, and the trustee has no discretion in determining whether a distribution shall be made or the amount of such distribution;

(2) As a support interest, which is not a mandatory interest but still contains mandatory language such as "shall make distributions" and is coupled with a standard capable of judicial interpretation; or

(3) As a discretionary interest, which is any interest where a trustee has any discretion to make or withhold a distribution.

A discretionary interest may be evidenced by permissive language such as "may make distributions" or it may be evidenced by mandatory distribution language that is negated by the discretionary language of the trust, such as "the trustee shall make distributions in the trustee's sole and absolute discretion." An interest that includes mandatory distribution language such as "shall" but is subsequently qualified by discretionary distribution language shall be classified as a discretionary interest and not as a support or a mandatory interest. A discretionary interest is any interest that is not a mandatory or a support interest.

Source: SL 2007, ch 280, § 15; SL 2008, ch 257, § 6; SL 2009, ch 252, § 7.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in South Dakota?

Find a South Dakota lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.